All right I lied. I don’t have it in me to pick 100% of last week’s games correctly. I thought 92% would be good enough. It isn’t. I know that now.
Seriously though, going 13-1 was pretty cool for me. I actually went out on a limb with a pick or two this week, so maybe I wont be as lucky. I know I’m going to eat it on a couple of these, possibly including but not exclusively, an inter-conference match up in Mass. and maybe the showdown in the South Bay.
| Indianapolis | 24 |
| Houston | 27 |
A marquee match up opens week 12 for the NFL. The Colts and Texans both play such weird brands of football. The Colts have a boring, rush based offense, and the Texans look like they should have a respectable deep passing game, but they don’t. Even JJ Watt wouldn’t have been able to help Houston last week in Baltimore, but they should be able to get back to the kind of thing they were doing against the Jags the week prior. Watch out for some really fun throws from these two signal callers. They like to make em in the fourth quarter too.
| Miami | 17 |
| Cleveland | 23 |
After the debacle last Thursday night in Cleveland, the Browns have to change people’s mindset about their season. No Myles Garret, no Larry Ogunjobi, and no offensive rhythm. After a really nice job by Baker Mayfield and co. on their opening drive, we didn’t really see much more from the offense for the rest of the day. They will have a much easier task this week against the Dolphins, who are licking their wounds after a blowout at the hands of the Buffalo Bills. It will be closer for them, but alas, they come up short again. The march towards the front of next years draft continues for Miami.
| Detroit | 10 |
| Washington | 16 |
As someone who has Kenny Golladay and Terry McLaurin rostered on their fantasy squad, this game is just depressing. Dwayne Haskins is piloting this moribund Washington franchise that most recently was seen getting blown out at home by the Jets. On the other side, Matthew Stafford seems to be a couple weeks away from returning, so it looks like we will get Jeff Driskel yet again. The Lions roster has better talent, but neither passer has made a splash in their limited work. I’ll give it to the home team and the higher pedigree’d quarterback.
| Denver | 10 |
| Buffalo | 20 |
The Bills don’t have a ton of room for error here, with the AFC wildcard contenders all bunching up record-wise. The 5-1 version of the Bills are in the rear-view, as this team has reason to worry when the Broncos and their two headed rushing attack come into town. Now luckily for Buffalo, Denver will be starting Brandon Allen, a quarterback who learned at the knee of Blake Bortles as a Jags 6th rounder back in 2016. Allen’s physical limitations may be too much for his team to overcome, as long as Josh Allen stays away from the turnovers that have plagued him all year
| Tampa Bay | 27 |
| Atlanta | 29 |
Doesn’t if feel good to be on the other side of marching through something, setting fire to everything you come across ATLANTA. In this case it has been the NFC South recently, as the Falcons have taken out New Orleans and Carolina in successive weeks. I don’t quite see this one shaking out the same way, but the result wont change. Both these teams can put up points, apparently, but Atlanta is on too much of a hot streak. I’ll say it continues in a game that doesn’t carry a whole lot of meaning.
| Carolina | 20 |
| New Orleans | 28 |
New Orleans’ only chance of a loss here is an all time Christian McCaffrey game. The Saints are barreling towards a bye, and have to love the fact that they get to play the broken Panthers twice in their last six games. Alvin Kamara is yet another week removed from his injuries, and should be ready to shoulder the load for the rest of the journey. Doesn’t it seem like this Carolina team lost its soul a little bit after their bludgeoning at the hands of the 49ers back in October?
| Pittsburgh | 12 |
| Cincinnati | 7 |
I don’t expect much offense out of this one. The Steelers and Bengals are 27th and 28th in total offense respectively, and seem even worse when you watch them. The Bengals have a chance at their first win on Sunday, but I’m not going to give it too them here. I smeared the Steelers in the Power Rankings on Tuesday, so I can’t go full villain and give them a loss here. But it’s close. Ultimately the only good unit in this game is the Pittsburgh defense, and that will be the difference.
| Oakland | 17 |
| NY Jets | 14 |
Oakland has been playing it close these last three weeks vs some teams who may not be very good. Thankfully for them, they seem to be getting out of said games with a win. The Jets are up next, and have had some pretty nice moments against two lowly NFC East squads in back to back outings. This isn’t the New York Jets that were getting steamrolled earlier in the season. Unfortunately for the Jets, the Raiders have more to fight for here and should be able to withstand the Jets, even while playing on the east coast at 10am their time.
| New York | 13 |
| Chicago | 15 |
A match up of two of the NFL’s premier franchises has now become a match up of the NFL’s premier dumpster fires, as the listless Giants visit the crumbling Bears. Mitch Trubisky continues his decent in the league quarterback rankings, and Daniel Jones sucks the optimism out of whichever stadium he’s playing in weekly for the Giants. Still, the Bears appear to have more talent on their roster even after some key injuries, so we will give them the nod. The Bears may have already won too many games, but the number two pick in the draft might hang in the balance for New York.
| Jacksonville | 14 |
| Tennessee | 20 |
Whoever loses this one is probably out of the race for a wildcard spot. Derrick Henry has been an absolute monster to have to deal with, and the Jaguars – who have allowed 480 yards rushing through their last two weeks – should look to take cover. Nick Foles was barely any help to Jacksonville last week, and he will need to be for the Jags to have a shot in this one. Ryan Tannehill has been playing quite possibly the best football of his career these last few weeks, and will probably keep it rolling against a Jags defense that has looked lost at times lately.
| Dallas | 25 |
| New England | 23 |
Tom Brady has never lost to the Cowboys, and seems to never lose at home after September. That said, I have no problem picking Dallas to hold on to a win in Foxboro on Sunday. What I’m honestly having the hardest time doing, is telling you that a Jason Garrett-led team, will best a Bill Belichick-led team at football. I’m hoping the stagnant Pat’s offense will not give me a chance to witness that clear coaching discrepancy rear it’s head. Dak Prescott would be a front runner in the MVP race, in any season that Lamar Jackson isn’t doing what he’s doing. He will need to keep that pace this week.
| Green Bay | 31 |
| San Francisco | 35 |
We’re going to see some offense in San Francisco if George Kittle plays. Even though the points haven’t necessarily been there, Jimmy G has been dealing. He has had his two best games of the year in the last three weeks. I do have to present the “they were against the Cardinals” disclaimer here. As for the Packers and their 5th place offense according to Football Outsiders’ DVOA, they should have both Aarons rolling in this one, fresh off the bye. I like the Niners at home. Should be like the Seahawks game, although I expect the Packers O to make less mistakes than Seattle’s did that night.
| Seattle | 26 |
| Philadelphia | 21 |
The Seahawks are in their second week in a row hosting above-average opponents, but if the offense plays at all like it did last week, they will get the same result. Carson Wentz had one of his worst games as a pro last week, in a season of miscues for the fourth year quarterback. Say what you want about the wind (the forecast calls for much of the same this week) the offense looked broken. On the Seahawks side, this is usually the type of match up that they can pull out. They haven’t lost a game on the road all year! if the Seahawks can eclipse 21 points, they will probably leave with the win.
| Baltimore | 31 |
| LA Rams | 21 |
This game will only be this close if the Rams offense can finally show up in a big spot. Sean McVey’s troubled bunch hasn’t made much noise since a week 7 shutdown of the Falcons. On the exact other end of the spectrum, the Ravens offense hasn’t been stopped by anyone since then. Lamar Jackson is your MVP front runner right now, and it will be very interesting to see how Greg Roman’s offensive scheme deals with Aaron Donald and a Rams defensive unit that hasn’t been very bad this year. The Rams just don’t have it in them offensively.